by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - A pastor and three members of his congregation were killed in Nigeria in April, as lack of a response by government authorities to Islamist Fulani herdsmen attacks continues to leave Christians vulnerable.
Pastor Matthew Tagwai, 34, was shot in his home in Ngbra Zongo village, Plateau state on April 7th by members of the Fulani ethnic group, who are predominantly Muslim, leaving behind a wife and two young children.
“This new attack, like the ones before it, is condemnable,” Rev. Yunusa Nmadu, Jr., the general secretary of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) of which Pastor Tagwai was a part, told Morning Star News. "The continuing attacks on harmless and unsuspecting Christian communities without concrete, strategic response from our duty-bearers to protect our people leaves much to be desired.”
Christians continue to be slaughtered in Nigeria in genocidal numbers through the combined efforts of Muslim herdsmen and the terrorist group Boko Haram, with the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) estimating that 6,000 Nigerian Christians have been killed since 2015.
Nigeria is ranked 12th on Open Doors USA's World Watch List for persecution of Christians, but second in terms of the number of Christians killed, trailing only Pakistan.